Planoorapii



l. HELM.

EVAPORATOR. APPLICATION FILED ocT.6.lQ|1.

Patented Aug. 5, y1919.

z' Invenar.- i N abmffezm,

JOHN HELM; OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

EVA? GRATOB..

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 5, 1919.

Application filed October 6, 1917. Serial No. 195,076.

To all 'who/n it may concern:

Be it known that l, JonN HELM, e eitincn of the United States, residing ut St. Louis, in the State of Missouri, have invented new and useful Improvements in Evaporators, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to evaporators, and more particularly to a do1nestie utensil or apparatus for use in the evaporation or drying of vegetables and fruits Jfor the conservation of food.

It has for its objects to produce a simple, inexpensive und efficient, portable apparatus which may be set upon au ordinary gas store over the burner thereof, or heated Vfrom any other suitable store or sourre :1t hund in the home, and to attain certain advantages as will more fully appear from the following description.

In the accompanying drawing illustrating a raetieal adaptation of the iiwention,

`igurc 1 is a view of the device, partly in front elevation and partly in vertical seetion; and

Fig. 2 Fig. 1.`

Referring now to the merel 1 indicates u hollow, rectangular oven shell, preferably of sheet metal. Obviously', this shell may have single walls, as show n, or double or multiple wells with dead-air speceor other suitable insulation between, as iu the usual and well-known oven constructions.

As shown,

is a section on the line 2--2 of drawing, the nuthis shell 1 hase'napertured bottom plate 2, the openings 3 of which may be o any desirable size, shape and number. Above they plate-2 is a deector or liefde-plate 4 which is sup orted at two op'- posite tended through apertures in the side walls of the shell and riveted or otherwise suitably secured in place. This baffle-plate terminates short ofthe front, back and side walls of the shell 1, so esto provide an opening 6 all around it, whereby to de-V fleet the heated `oir, whenit first enters the lls of the latter.

shell, towardL the we A suitable outlet is rovidedat the upper hisis prefere 1y acportionof the shell. oomplished through apertures 1n the topv wall 8 of the` shell, Lepertures. being somewhat sinallferin ereath'nlthose of the1 bottom plete 2, whereby the heated eir is sides-onV rods, wh ch latter are ex-l of the column.

oven, e stop well distributed throughout the interior of the shell as it passes tl'ierethrough.

Mountedn the shell 1, adjacent to the sidewalls thereof, are two parallel, vertically-disposed endless conveyors 9. Each of these conveyors comprises a pair of suitable sprocket chalns or belts, having attached thereto n multiplicity of tray-supports 1Q.

As shown, the tray-supports comprise channels, and the endless members are Het belts 11, preferably of sonic suitable inelastic material, such as reinforced asbestos fabric, which possesses the requisite Flexibility und will withstand the action of the heet. These belts are provided with apertures 12 for engagement with the teeth or peripheral projections 13 of the sprockets 1-1, which letter are mounted to rotate on shafts 15, seid shafts being supported on the Afront and back Walls of the shell 1 neer the top thereof. Neaitlie bottom of the shell 1 are similar shafts 16, havin `flanged rollers or idlers 17 thereon, over w iioh said belts 11 travel.

In` the use of the device, the trays for the stuff to be dried or evaporated, are placed iirst in the upper portion of the oven an taken nallyout at the bottoni, doors 18 and 19 being accordin ly provided therefor' in the front Wall, en manipulated, as will be presently pointed out. The trays, of themselves, do not concern the present invention other than the manner in which they coperate with said vdoors an the endless conveyers. 4Henee, they may be ofeny suitable construction. s illustrated, however, they comprise rectangular merginal framesl 20, of round section, and open; mesh Wire rfabric bodies 21,. through which the heated air may permeate the stu thereon.

The loaded trays areinade to travel downwgtrd intermittenti during' the time they are in the oven. hun; is, they are moved downward, ste by step', as the bottom 4tray containing the nished stufis taken out, and a freshly loaded tray is placed at the top To supportthe column of trays within the rejection is provided for engagement wit 1' the bottom tray.- s shown, this stop coignprises an angle-piece 22 secured to the beck wall of the oven soY that its horizontaln Hnge 23 is in a piane with its upper face just coinciding with the plane of the under side j' of Vthe lower-most tray.

Hence,E the column "of trays which are engaged with the channeled tray-supports 10 is held from moving downward while the bottom tray is resting on said stop, and until said bottom tray is withdrawn.

Now, to prevent the column moving downward immediately after the bottom tray is withdrawn from engagement with said stop, another stop is provided for engagement with the upper-most tray. This is accomplished by providing on theinner face of the upper door 18, a lug or lugs 24, preferably two of thennone being located near either end ofthe door, and adjacent to the corresponding endless conveyer. These lugs, as shown in Fig. 2, have a substantially straight portion 25 at right angles to the door, upon which the tray rests when the door is closed; and from this straight portion, the lug is rounded or beveled off to its end, :is at 26, so that, as the door is swung open, the lug remains in sliding engagement with the tray and allowing the latter to move gradually downward, until the then lower-most tray engages the stop 23, thereby preventing the column from dropping suddenly and avoiding the shock which might otherwise occur as the column is arrested by said stop with which the lowermost tray engages.

By keeping a full column of trays 1n the oven, the intermittent downward movement of the column isentirely automatic, through gravity, aside from the manual manipulation of the doors 18 and 19 and the removal ot' the bottom tray and the insertion of another tray at the top of the column.

It is, of course, understood that the upper door is kept closed while the bottom tray is being removed. After the bottom tray is taken out the upper door is opened, permitting the column of trays to descend until arrested by the 'stop 23, as above pointed out. A tray is then placed on the upper-most cop operating pair of vacant tray-supports 10 and the door 18 is closed, thereby ringing the lugs 24 intoengaging relation to said tra "1Y0 afford stability for the endless conveyers and to resist end thrust of the trays thereon, elongated vertical shoes are arranged on the front and back walls of the shell 1, adjacent to the endless belts 11. The shoe, as shown, com rises an angle-piece, one of whose flanges 2 is secured to the wall of the shell, while its other fiange 28 extends closely alongside of the downwardly traveling portion of the belt. Obviously, the structure admits of considerable modication without departing from the spirit of the invention as define d by the appended claims. Therefore, it is not limited to that shown in the accompanying drawing, which is designed to illustrate a practical embodiment of the invention in a simple form.

What is claimed is:

1. In a device of the character described, an oven, means for movably supporting a column of trays therein, and means for the releasable engagement of the respective trays .in succession, serving as a stop for and permitting an intermittent moven'ient of said column of trays with its support, and coiltrollable by the removal ot' a tray from one end of the column and the placing of a tray at the opposite end thereof.

2. In a device of the character described, an oven, a pair of oppositely-disposed coperating endless conveyers having tray-supports thereon for detachable engagement of trays therewith in such relation as to prevent independent movement of the trays in either direction lengthwise of said conveyers, and means for controlling an intermittent movement of a column of trays on said conveyers by the removal of a tray at one end of the column and the placing ol a tray at the opposite end of the column.

3. ln a device of the character described, an oven, a pair of vertically-arranged, oppositely-disposed endless conveyers having tray-supports thereon for detachable engagement of trays therewith in such relation as to prevent independent movement oi the trays in either direction lengthwise of said conveyers, a stop for engaging the lower-most tray of a column on said conveyers to hold said column from moving downward, and releasable means for engaging the upper-most tray of the column, whereby an intermittent downward movement of the column is controlled by the removal of the bottom tray from engagement with its said coperating stop and the placing of a tray at the top of the column for engagement with its said releasable engaging means.

4. In a device of the character described, an oven, a pair of vertically-arranged, oppositely-disposed endless conveyers having tray-supports thereon for detachable engagement of trays therewith in such relation as to prevent independent movement of the trays in either direction lengthwise of said conveyors, a stop for engaging the lowermost tray of a column on said conveyers to hold said column from moving downward, said oven having a door for access to the lower-most tray of the column and a door likewise for access to the upper-most tray of the column, said second-mentioned door having means thereon for engagement with the upper-most tray, whereby an intermitent downward movement of the column is controlled by the removal of the bottom tray from engagement with its said coperating stop and the placing of a tray at the top of the column for engagement with the said engaging means on said second-mentioned door.

5. In a device of the character described, an oven, a pair of coperatively-opposed, vertically-disposed endless conveyers, said conveyers having horizontally-disposed channel-shape tray-supporting members, a stop secured to the back Wall of said oven in a plane to engage the lower-most tray of a column thereof on said conveyers, a door in the front wall of said oven for access to said lower-most tray, and a door for access to the upper-most tray-supports of the conveyers, said Second-mentioned door having a projection thereon for engagement with a tray on said upper-most tray-supports.

6. In a device of the character described, an oven, said oven having an apertured bottom, a bathe-plate above said bottom, and a perforated top, means for movably supporting a column of trays therein, and means for permitting an intermittent movement of said column of trays with its support, controllable by the removal of a tray from one end of the column and the placing of a tray at the opposite end thereof.

7. In a device of the character described, an oven, said oven having an apertured bottom, a bathe-plate above said bottom, and an apertured top, said baffle-plate terminating short of the walls of said oven, a pair of endless conveyers located adjacent to the side Walls of the oven in opposed coperative, parallel, vertical relation, said conveyers having tray-supports thereon for detachable engagement of trays therewith in such relation as to prevent independent. movement of the trays in either direction lengthwise of said conveyers, a sto for engaging the lower-most tray of a co umn on said conveyers to hold said column from moving downward, and releasable means for engaging the upper-most tray of the column, whereby an intermittent downward movement of the column is controlled by the removal of the bottom tray from engagement with its said cooperating stop and the plac- Gopies o! this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the ing of a tray at the top of the column for engagement with its said releasable engaging means, and a door in said oven for access to said upper-most and lower-most trays, respectively.

8. In a device of the character described, an oven, a pair of coperatively-opposed, vertical]y-disposed endless conveyers, said conveyers having tray-supports thereon for detachable engagement of trays therewith in such relation as to prevent independent movement of the trays in either direction lengthwise of said conveyers, a stop for engaging the lower-most tray of a column on said conveyers to hold said column from moving downward, a door in said oven for access to the lower-most tray of the column, and a door for access to the upper-most tray of the column, said second-mentioned door having an extension for engagement with said upper-most tray to hold the column of trays from moving downward when the door is closed, said extension being formed for slid-- able engagement with the tray so as to permit a gradual descent of the column as the extension moves out of engagement with the tray upon opening the door after the lower-most tray is Withdrawn from engagement with its said cooperating stop.

9. In a device of the character described, an oven, means for movably supporting a column of trays therein, said means comprising a pair of oppositely-disposed coperating endless conveyers having tray-sup Orts thereon for detachable engagement o the respective trays therewith in such relation as to prevent independent movement of the trays in either direction lengthwise of the conveyers, and means for supporting said column of trays and permitting an intermittent downward movement of the column, said means comprising a stop for the releasable engagement of the respective trays in the column in succession.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand.

JOHN HELM.

ommissioner ot Patents.

Washington, D. 0. 

